I think its a Zoltrix Audio Performer, according to this anyway. Can't find a pic of it though.

Is the Zoltrix Audio Performer possibly an obscure SoundBlaster Pro 1.0 clone? Until today, I had absolutely no clue what that card was. What made me wonder what this sound card was were all the chips with those M*whatever* markings on them and the fact there isn't a single YM3812 or YMF262 on the sound card. One thing's for sure, this sound card produces only OPL2 FM Synthesis. I think either this card uses twin YM3812s with matching DACs in a different package or two perfectly-cloned YM3812s with matching cloned DACs were used.

The SoundBlaster Pro part actually works 100% like an original SoundBlaster Pro from what I've been able to hear. It sounds like the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 with the sound filter removed, and just like the original SoundBlaster Pro, the Stereo is reversed.

There's only one Zoltrix ISA sound card on eBay, and it's one I have with a Crystal CS4232 chipset. I don't know if it's worth anything, though, but from my experience, Crystal equals garbage.

EDIT: It seems the Zoltrix Audio Performer is more commonly known as the Audio Excel AV300. A Google search for Audio Excel AV300 gives multiple links to drivers for the sound card, however, Google Images shows absolutely no pictures of the AV300. Is it really such an obscure sound card all you find are drivers?

Apologies for bumping, but I've got a new sound of Star Wars X-Wing to show. Go to the first post to see it.

Next time around, I'm going to leave X-Wing aside for a little bit and move on to Doom. Should be interesting to hear Doom on all the sound cards I have.

you mean this card?

That's the SoundBlaster Pro 1.0 clone I have, but with some different markings on chips U4(no Zilog logo), U8, U9(both are labeled ST6012M6 on your card while they're labeled MK6264 on yours) and U12(labeled MB3120S on your card) and some of the capacitors are different. Do you happen to have drivers for that card for DOS and Windows 95?

Also, quick question: is CON3 a WaveBlaster connector? Or is it something that looks like a WaveBlaster connector but serves a different purpose?

actually I bought this card back in 1994, it was sold as "audio excel pro". I don't have the box or the manual anymore, so I can't tell you what the CON2 connector is good for... but I assume it is some kind of proprietary cdrom connector (was very popular these days to have one)

but attached you can find the driver disc

No new recordings yet, but I did pick up an OPTi 82C930 and quickly tested it on a Windows 95 computer and on my MS-DOS gaming computer. My thoughts on the 82C930:

The 82C930 HATES being used with DOS games under Windows 95. The FM Synthesis is fine and unlike my 82C929A, the bass notes never get distorted no matter how loud the FM is. The big problem is the SoundBlaster Pro part of the 82C930. Under Windows, SoundBlaster Pro digital sound is EXTREMELY faint(it's almost as if the sound card's audio amp is faulty because the sound is almost inaudible, but this doesn't happen under DOS). Also, under Windows, I could not get the SoundBlaster Pro part of the 82C930 working unless I used IRQ 11 and DMA 3. It's a better sound card under DOS, where it works very well. It won't complain when used on a DOS computer no matter the IRQ or DMA settings, however, the SNDINIT program caused a stack overflow in the Windows 95 test computer. This card is really meant to be used on a DOS-only computer, as even under Windows, like with my 82C929A, if you use Windows drivers rather than DOS drivers, the SoundBlaster sound options in the floppy disk edition of X-Wing don't work. You'll just get complete silence.

Now, for the general sound quality of the OPTi 82C930. As I've previously mentioned, there is no distortion in the FM Synthesis at all due to the quad op-amp used to amplify the sound coming out of the YMF262. This 82C930 has a TL074C quad op-amp whereas the 82C929A I have uses an LF347 quad op-amp. Seems the bandwidth of the TL074C is greater than that of the LF347. The 82C930 also has less filtering than any SoundBlaster I've used with true OPL3. It's also ideal not to max out the volume of the FM Synthesis on the 82C930 as, when maxed out, the FM is too loud compared to the SoundBlaster Pro digital sound. And speaking of digital sound, while the sound pitch is correct on the 82C930 compared to the 82C929A(it sometimes has a higher sound pitch for digital audio), the quality is inferior to the 82C929A. The 82C930's digital audio is fairly muffled and the overall quality is about that of the ESS AudioDrive, which isn't too spectacular.

One problem with the 82C930 is reversed Stereo sound. Both the SoundBlaster Pro digital sound and FM Synthesis have reversed Stereo sound, which can be a problem on certain dual sound card setups if the other sound card has proper Stereo.

Overall, I wasn't particularly impressed with the 82C930. It didn't wow me like the 82C929A did. I love that card, but right now, the 82C930 is going into the storage bin where my many other ISA and PCI sound cards that are not in use reside.

More preliminary tests are coming in for two new sound cards I acquired, although I only got one working:

Yamaha YMF744(PCI):

After having gone through FOUR defective Yamaha YMF7xx sound cards, if this one would have been defective as well, I would have been screaming profanities for 15 minutes because of the hell I've been through with Yamaha sound cards. But it wasn't the case; the 5th Yamaha sound card I found was the good one. Well, almost. Read on to find out.

As this is a Yamaha sound card, expect to have authentic OPL3 FM Synthesis as there's an entire YMF262 inside the YMF744, however, this doesn't mean there aren't any differences between the OPL3 of the YMF744 and that of a real YMF262. It seems the YMF744 has less audible quantization noise than the YMF262, making certain sounds a little different than with a real YMF262. The SoundBlaster Pro support works great. The quality is very good, however, the Stereo is reversed. Might be a bit of a problem with some games.

The one major problem I found with the YMF744, and I don't know if it's my drivers or something on the sound card causing this, is an obnoxious ringing noise in the right sound channel(the left sound channel is clear). And unlike the ringing noise I get on my SoundBlaster Vibra16 model CT2260, the noise never goes away. It happens at high volumes for the most part, and while it's drowned out in Windows, in DOS, the overall sound output is quiet enough to make the ringing audible, and over time, it becomes REALLY annoying.

Now for the XG MIDI. I don't think I've ever heard a better sound from a sound card with built-in MIDI. I've already used Yamaha's S-YXG50 softsynth and love the sound it puts out, and just like with the S-YXG50 softsynth, the XG MIDI in the YMF744 sounds awesome.

Labway MachOne EV1935(PCI):

I still haven't found proper drivers for this sound card, so I wasn't able to test it. If someone has drivers for this card, please post them.

Ace wrote:

Labway MachOne EV1935(PCI):

I still haven't found proper drivers for this sound card, so I wasn't able to test it. If someone has drivers for this card, please post them.

Is there anything on DriverGuide? I did a search for EV1935, and it came up with some results...

I found some DOS drivers for the EV1935, so I'll be using those to test the sound card. Now for my thoughts on the EV1935.

While I had no idea about what "MachOne" was supposed to be, I did remember the name "MediaChips," which was a name used by OPTi on some of their PCI sound card chipsets. Well, it appears OPTi also used the name "MachOne" as the EV1935 sounds exactly like my OPTi 82C931, which means it doesn't work with the SoundBlaster sound options in the floppy disk edition of X-Wing and the Stereo is reversed both with FM Synthesis and SoundBlaster Pro digital sound(the EV1935 is SoundBlaster Pro compatible). To top it off, like the 82C931, the EV1935 uses OPTiFM for FM Synthesis, which, as I mentioned when commenting on the 82C931, sounds weird as several notes cause volume spikes in the output of the FM Synthesis and the notes don't drag on for a little while after they stop. They just stop. Several notes are off as well, and to top it off, some notes come out distorted at high volumes. The EV1935 does have noisier audio output as well, as there is a lot more audible quantization noise than with the 82C931. If it weren't for the use of OPTiFM, the EV1935 would be a pretty good card, but OPTiFM really kills OPL2 and OPL3 with its volume spikes, distortion and odd way of ending notes.

MASSIVE bump! I can't believe I haven't updated this thread in over one year.

For those who have been following "The Many Sounds of:", I have a really big update in progress right now. I am revisiting the entire "The Many Sounds of:" series due to a number of problems with many of my videos:

1) Bad recording (use of Composite and no cropping)
2) Audible Ground loops (most apparent in my earlier videos)
3) Use of hardware that's too fast (this is not a problem with Doom, but a BIG issue with X-Wing)

I also forgot to update this thread as I was uploading new videos. I will now update the thread with whatever I've added since my last update and start uploading the new "The Many Sounds of:" with major changes to the capture method:

1) New capture device (all footage recorded in S-Video)
2) Audio and video are recorded separately on two different computers (I can't do this directly on my laptop as if I do, I get either heavy video noise or a high-pitched squeal)
3) All videos will be recorded off the same computer with the following specs (with the exception of certain computers with a built-in sound card I don't have as a standalone PCI or ISA sound card):

-Intel Pentium 100MHz
-64MB of RAM
-80GB hard drive
-ATI Rage 6 graphics card
-OS is Windows 95 set to boot into MS-DOS v7.10

4) All audio is now normalized to 0dB

The 82C930A card isn't so good as other SB' clones like the previous OPTi or some other models, right?

I've seen yesterday all the ISA related X-Wing youtube videos of this thread. Additionally, i've run also my X-Wing CD-edition on my system with Avance ALS100+ chip (playing 4-OP FM and SB16/SB Pro/SB).

The 82C930 is still what I would consider adequate. Although mine has trace damage from a botched op-amp replacement (I have to fix that as it partially killed FM output), it's about the same as the 82C929A, although as my 82C930 uses a TL074 in place of the LF347, the audible distortion from the FM output on the 82C929A in part 3 of X-Wing is not present. It does still have the completely reversed Stereo output the 82C929A has, though.

The ALS100+ is probably the stand-out SoundBlaster clone out of all those I own (I just recently got one of these). I was surprised that it's actually SoundBlaster 16-compatible as the cards I tested with supposed SoundBlaster 16 compatibility were complete garbage (granted, they were PCI, and while I did test the C-Media CMI8330, I don't remember if I got SoundBlaster 16 compatibility off that chipset).

On another note, I'm in the middle of reuploading each of the clips from Star Wars X-Wing and Doom as well as starting on Wing Commander and Star Wars TIE Fighter. I've got a new test computer put together and much better equipment, so here's what will change:

1) Video captures will now be done in HDMI at 1080p 60FPS
2) Depending on the game, either VGA or DVI will be used as the video output (VGA will be for games that run at 320x200 while DVI will be for those that run at 640x480 or switch between resolutions in-game). Conversion and audio mixing will be done with the Micomsoft XRGB-Mini
3) New computer (one of several "hybrid builds" I've put together):

-Gigabyte GA-6VXE7+ Rev. 3.0 Socket 370 motherboard
-VIA C3 Nehemiah 1.2GHz
-256MB PC133 CL2 SDRAM
-nVidia GeForce FX5600 AGP with VGA and DVI output
-12GB Maxtor IDE hard drive
-OS is Windows 98 SE with games set to run in pure DOS (I like to use Windows 98 SE as a frontend for DOS and set up shortcuts in a folder on the desktop)

This setup allows many more games to run properly than my previous setup as the C3 can be slowed down quite significantly for speed-sensitive DOS games.

And with that said, it's time to record The Many Sounds of: Star Wars TIE Fighter - Part 1. Suggestions for a sound card and sound options to use?

Really looking forward to seeing those updates, thanks for reviving The Many Sounds Of.

Is there a chance to get better output in FM/OPL emulation of a onboard "CS4236B".
Some FM/OPL sounds are somehow strange and drums sounding like in a sweep (soft drum, hard-drum)

Board is D981 http://www.pci-card.com/d981-flyer.pdf

Doc

Ace wrote:

What is 4-OP FM?

4-Op FM is basically just another way of saying OPL3 FM Synthesis.

How so? Isn't the OPP FM Synthesizer on an IBM Music Feature Card or Yamaha FB-01 a 4-Op FM chip too? AFAIK 4-Op FM isn't exclusive to the YMF262, other FM chips (including others not designed/manufactured by Yamaha) might be 4-Op chips too.

Maybe i'm nitpicking, but the statement is nagging me.

carlostex wrote:

Maybe i'm nitpicking, but the statement is nagging me.

Then it must have been nagging you for almost 7 years since Ace posted that comment. 😁
But I agree, 4 operators is not a strict OPL3 terminology, it's just a configuration in FM synthesis where the sound can be created from 4 (or more) oscillators.

If the FM synthesizer programmer is any good he can create marvelous sounds in 2OP mode, even more so in 4OP mode,,, just listen to some 80s music, it is ridden with FM synthesizers. 😎

James-F wrote:

Then it must have been nagging you for almost 7 years since Ace posted that comment. 😁

I was just reading through the thread and didn't even notice tbh, the statement just caught my attention. 🤣

James-F wrote:

If the FM synthesizer programmer is any good he can create marvelous sounds in 2OP mode, even more so in 4OP mode,,, just listen to some 80s music, it is ridden with FM synthesizers. 😎

Yes, the Yamaha DX7 was all the rage in the 80's. I've read somewhere that the OPS chip in the DX7 was 6 OP FM, and probably so were the other in the OPS family.

carlostex wrote:

I was just reading through the thread and didn't even notice tbh, the statement just caught my attention. :lol: […]
Show full quote

James-F wrote:

Then it must have been nagging you for almost 7 years since Ace posted that comment. 😁

I was just reading through the thread and didn't even notice tbh, the statement just caught my attention. 🤣

James-F wrote:

If the FM synthesizer programmer is any good he can create marvelous sounds in 2OP mode, even more so in 4OP mode,,, just listen to some 80s music, it is ridden with FM synthesizers. 😎

Yes, the Yamaha DX7 was all the rage in the 80's. I've read somewhere that the OPS chip in the DX7 was 6 OP FM, and probably so were the other in the OPS family.

Yep, the DX7 is a 6 OP FM synth. I have a DX7II FD. Something died in it though and it will not power on anymore. I think it is probably something in the power supply. Already re-capped it, but it still isn't working. 😢

At least I have the mac-daddy of all old Yamaha synths though, the SY99. It is an FM and waveform hybrid. MWAHAHAHAHA.

I really wanted a DX7, but I didn't get around to buying one on eBay before I got married and had kids, so now I probably can't afford one 🤣. I haven't done much musical doodling since college anyway.